Abstract
Until recently, both clinicians and researchers treating older adults have performed gait and cognitive assessments separately. However, increasing evidence demonstrates that gait and cognition are interrelated and their decline is a main driver of the insidious disability of aging. A population particularly at risk are older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), who are not only at a 10 times higher risk for progression to dementia syndromes but also at risk of mobility decline and falls. Five experts in the field who belongs to the Canadian Consortium in Neurodegeneration and Aging (CCNA) initiative will review the significance of the gait-cognition interrelationship. They will present current and provocative evidence suggesting cognitive and mobility decline can be treated together by combining physical exercises, cognitive training, and nutritional supplements such as Vitamin D. Lessons learned from three interventional studies in the area of gait, cognition, and brain health will be presented. Finally, the study protocol, design and preliminary data from the SYNERGIC Trial (SYNnchronizing Exercises, Remedies in GaIt and Cognition; NCT02808676), a novel multi-site, phase 3, clinical trial that combines exercises with cognitive remediation and Vitamin D with the goal to delay cognitive decline among older adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment will be shown. This symposium will introduce multi-modal interventions as a novel approach to the current prevention treatments for cognitive and mobility decline; therefore, we expect it will be of interest to clinicians (e.g., geriatricians, neurologist, psychologists, nurses and physiotherapists) and researchers in the area of gait, cognition, and brain health.